the
travel DIARY
Chilean adventures of Terri Potratz A NATIVE OF VANCOUVER, Canada, Terri Potratz started “larry. designs” in 2008 with the mandate to use locally sourced materials in the creation of her hand-made knitwear, jewellery and art. Her work has received wide publicity, and in 2011 she was shortlisted as a Designer of the Year by Canadian “Western Living” magazine. The global traveler, Terri draws heavily from her surroundings throughout her design and creation process, embarking on knitting retreats to places such as the Cariboo Region of British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, South Africa, and now the Chilean Patagonia. This year, Patagonia Media invited Terri to take part in a month-long residency program in Frutillar that celebrates collaborative partnerships and nourishes the exchange of cultural ideas in an environment where the landscape itself offers endless inspiration. Keeping a diary of her Chilean adventures, Terri takes us on a magnificent journey to South America week by week. by Terri Potratz, edited by Alina Rätsep
Week 1 – The Beginning
Day 1 - It’s 7:30am at the Roatan airport and panic is settling in. I realise I haven’t confirmed the final leg of the 32-hour journey that will deliver me to Frutillar in Southern Chile, where I will be spending the next month designing a regionally-inspired knitwear collection for Patagonia Media. Flashes of being stranded in Santiago, alone and unable to speak the language, taunt my imagination. I ask the young woman at the cellular phone booth if there is anywhere with a computer that I can use, trying to convey my desperation. She rolls her eyes, shakes her head, and returns to scrolling through Facebook on the kiosk’s desktop PC. I swallow my frustration, wishing I could speak enough Spanish to explain my situation to her.
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